From: Curtis Chong 
Subject: Re: Using telnet in the GUI environments. (Forward)
Greetings:
Darrell has done an excellent job of capturing the problems with
TELNET and IRC clients under the graphical environment--i.e.,
Windows 95.  As Unix shells begin to disappear, the issues he
raises will become an ever greater annoyance to blind people who
use these clients.  Where does the solution lie?  Frankly, I really
don't know.  But I do know that we have, in this instance, a bit of
a problem.
Regards,
Curtis Chong
chong99@cris.com
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Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 18:57:43 -0600
From: Darrell Shandrow 
Reply-To: uaccess-l@trace.wisc.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Using telnet in the GUI environments.
Greetings colleagues,
This article addresses the problem of using text-based telnet programs in a
GUI environment.  As blind computer users, we face special challenges when
using these text-based programs in a non-text-based environment where all
the "standard" DOS stuff is out the window.  Here are some of my
perspectives on the situation.  Please feel free to start some lively
discussion of these topics.
Traditionally, us blind folks have used the Internet via text-based Unix
shell accounts.  We ran DOS-based terminal emulation programs like Procomm,
Telix and Commo.  All the prompts and text was spoken automatically because
it was written through the BIOS using DOS calls.  This fact, along with
robust screen reading software, made it fairly straightforward to use many
Internet services such as E-mail, telnet, ftp, irc, lynx and anything else
one could use in Unix.  If you heard too much information at one time
automatically, you could silence your speech and use screen review commands. 
When we used irc to chat with users or telnet to access bulletin board
systems, we actually required the text to be written through DOS BIOS so
that we had automatic speech regardless of our screen reader.  This worked
extremely well and the use of these two Internet services almost always
went smoothly.  
Now, the Internet; and all other computer applications; are moving to the
GUI platforms like Windows, OS/2 and Macintosh.  These platforms have
varying degrees of accessibility and it is possible to do many things just
as well as a sighted user.  One can even utilize screen access software in
Windows to browse the Web with Netscape, Internet Explorer or just about
any other GUI web browser.  One can easily use Eudora to read and send
electronic mail.  However, current experience indicates that terminal
emulation is still a problem.  
It is actually quite possible to use terminal emulation under Windows in
various job situations where the applications are specifically programmed
using macros to allow the blind employee (usually a customer service rep)
to obtain necessary information.  Automatic speech is not required and,
usually, undesirable in these situations.  So, this is not exactly what I
am addressing here.
I am talking about the use of a terminal emulation interface like telnet to
access other computers on the Net interactively.  The various GUI-based
telnet clients have various problems with accessibility when it comes to
the interactive speaking of information.  These problems are due to the
fact that there is no such thing as BIOS calls in a GUI.  Text is scrolled
to the screen and it is up to the screen reader to figure out how to speak
it well.  This is fine for standard controls like dialog boxes and menus
because the information is fairly specific and predictable.  Due to the
nature of Windows controls, the screen readers seem to have an easier time
dealing with these things.
However, scrolling text from an interactive connection is much less
predictable and screen readers don't perform well.  Since it is unlikely
that there will ever be anything similar to BIOS calls in the GUI
environments, I propose the following choices to solve the interactivity
problems:
Text-based telnet client:
A text-based telnet client could be written to work much like the FTP
client that comes with Windows '95.  The FTP program is text-based and
works extremely well in a DOS box with a DOS screen reader.  Similarly, a
telnet client could be written that uses the Windows '95 (or other GUI)
networking resources.  This client should have solid VT100 and ansi-bbs
emulation and support file transfers with Zmodem and kermit.  Ideally, it
should be able to do an rlogin when that situation is required.  
Another possible solution would be to write a program that could use the
GUI's built-in networking resources to emulate a standard DOS packet
driver.  This would work like the cslip and slipper drivers currently
available.  If this were done, programs like Minuet and NCSA telnet could
be used in a DOS box.  It would allow for some flexibility.  
If this solution were adopted, the packet drivers should be non-obtrusive
so that one could still use their Windows Internet applications like
Netscape even when the DOS client is running.  
The final solution I will suggest is to emulate a virtual com port so that
one could use a DOS-based terminal emulator like Procomm or Commo over a
telnet connection.  I am not certain how this one could work, because you
would need to have a way to specify the address of the host to which you
wanted to connect.  If this solution were adopted, one could use whichever
program they liked and have complete functionality when connecting to a BBS
or attempting some other interactive text-based session.
I feel that this is extremely important, since shell accounts are becoming
less and less available.  It will be very useful if a blind person who has
only a PPP connection can still use their computer to connect to services
like GBX and NfbNet.  
I hope this generates some lively discussion and some real solutions. 
Thanks.
Regards,
Darrell Shandrow              [http://www.qfi.org]
Technology Specialist, Colorado Center for the Blind
I am not representing the CCB.  This is just me...
Changing what it means to be blind every day and in every way!
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